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April 20, 2017

Are you looking for some cheap fun?

I priced other 50ft and 75ft slip n slides on Amazon and the cost was ridiculous considering what you actually got. A lot of the reviews said things like "just a thick roll of plastic". So it got me thinking. You can buy 100 ft. sheet plastic at Lowes and Home Depot for a lot less. And I'll be posting the DIY foam machine next week if you're interested in that. See the combined fun in the video below.

If you're going to try it at the beach like we did I would recommend trying to figure out an easy way to get the water from the ocean to the top of the plastic. We just had people with buckets which worked okay but it would have been a lot more fun if we had an ongoing water source. Since there's no electricity it make things a bit tricky. Maybe something like a manual bilge pump with a long backwash hose leading back to the ocean? I haven't tried it but it would be my best shot.

Be sure to get at least 6 mil thickness. Anything less will probably tear. I bought 6 mil and so far it's lasted all summer with multiple uses. You will also need garden staples. You can buy them at Lowe's, Walmart or any hardware store.. You can usually buy a box of 75 or 100. Just pierce it into the edges of the plastic into the ground to keep it in place. If you're feeling really ambitious you could add grommets on the edges of the plastic.

I also recommend getting at least 10 feet wide. That also may sound too wide. I know traditional slip n slides are barely 24" but you'll be surprised how much you slide around on that 10 ft especially if multiple kids are going at once.

Fair warning. 100ft of plastic is A LOT to handle. It may sounds fun but 50ft is a lot more practical and still quite long. I bought 100 ft and cut it in half. It just makes things so much easier to manage. And if I want to extend it to 100 ft I can just add the second piece to the end.

For this beach slide I only brought the 50ft piece. You'd be surprised just how heavy 50ft of plastic can be. We had to cart it to the beach in a wagon. A lower mil plastic will be lighter so maybe if you want to cart this to the beach you could try a lighter plastic (like 4 mil) but don't be surprised if you get a few tears.

Clean up! It's important that you know how to deal with this much plastic if you want to use it again. You can't just roll it up in a wet ball and throw it in your garage. It's going to get pretty gross. I found the best way was to fold it in half every 15 minutes letting the surface dry with every fold until you are down to a manageable rectangle. Takes about 2 hours. Also, I've found that you can let it it sit out on your grass for a day without killing the grass. It helps if the plastic is clear.